Book picks similar to
Border Dogs by Weston Ochse


short-stories
monster
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horror

The Woman Who Married a Cloud


Jonathan Carroll - 2012
    Perhaps more eclectic and slant-wise than some of his novels, stories like World Fantasy Award winning “Friend’s Best Man” and Pushcart Prize and Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire honouree “Home on the Rain” stand amongst his very best work.The Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories is the best and most complete collection of Jonathan Carroll’s fiction ever published. It collects 37 stories written across a thirty year long career, a number appearing here in print for the first time, in a single landmark volume that stands as the perfect introduction to this unique and wonderful writer.

A Rare Book of Cunning Device


Ben Aaronovitch - 2017
    Is it a ghost, or something much worse? PC Peter Grant really isn't looking forward to finding out....

Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law


Lavie Tidhar - 2020
    This new case in particular puts his mandate to the test.

Fire & Frost


Meljean Brook - 2013
    Just because she’s ovulating doesn’t mean she has to settle for just any man (or his beast). Her sexy alpha’s determined to find her a tiger to take care of her heat and father her child…but no one seems to look quite as good as the man in charge. Will giving in to her need for her alpha ruin her tenuous relationship with her clan or be a match made in heaven? Conjuring Max by Carolyn Crane – The witches of the world ridiculed and rejected nerdy Veronica for trying to use newfangled computers to enhance old world spellcasting. Well, it’s 1984 now, and she’s perfected her spellcasting computer program. Hey, who needs friends when you can conjure virtually anything…or anybody? So when Veronica makes powerful new enemies, she conjures Max, a pitbull of a cop, to deal with the pesky hitmen who keep coming around. Maybe Veronica can finally get some peace and quiet so she can work on her computer. But tough-guy Max is in no mood to play lapdog to a gorgeous witch. Wrecked by Meljean Brook – Elizabeth has spent the past five years running from her father; her father’s huntsman, Caius, has spent the past five years pursuing her. But when he finally catches up to her on an airship flying above Europe’s zombie-infested cities, Elizabeth discovers that Caius isn’t the only danger she has to fear—and now that he’s found her, Caius doesn’t intend to let her go…

Brothers in Arms


Jessica Meigs - 2012
    As their worlds collapse around them, both are forced to do the unimaginable to not only ensure their survival but to protect each other from the cannibalistic infected that cross their paths.Weaponless and alone, the two brothers quickly learn that the only thing they can count on is each other.The Becoming: Brothers in Arms is a novella set in the Becoming universe. It can be read either before or after The Becoming, the first book in the series published November 2011 by Permuted Press. It contains no spoilers for The Becoming or the sequel, The Becoming: Ground Zero, coming summer 2012 from Permuted Press.

Last Christmas


Heide Goody - 2018
     A short story in the Oddjobs universe that tries to answer the age-old question: what Christmas present do you get for the demon who has everything?

Open and Shut


Alastair Reynolds - 2018
    Step into the futuristic world of Prefect Dreyfus for a fast paced new SF crime story. This is your new SF obsession.One citizen died a fortnight ago. Two a week ago. Four died yesterday . . . and unless the cause can be found – and stopped – within the next four months, everyone will be dead. For the Prefects, the hunt for a silent, hidden killer is on . .

At the Helm, Volume 2


Rhett C. BrunoNick Cole - 2017
    Epic battles. Artificial Intelligence's longing for meaning. Life as we know it, ending... Sci-Fi Bridge is thrilled to present its second collection from bestselling authors and newly emerging writers. These stories span the near and far future. They transport you to worlds unknown. They examine today's fears amid tomorrow's technologies. From the far corners of the galaxy to the inner reaches of the human heart, the exciting stories in At the Helm will thrill, inspire, and make you wonder--do humans have what it takes to build a better future? Or are we doomed by our own failings? Foreword by Jay Allan. "Scout" by Will McIntosh. "Gelassenheit" by Chris Pourteau. "Rubbish with Names" by Felix R. Savage. "Galaxy's Edge" by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole “A God Among Us” by Rhett C. Bruno "Just An Old Fashioned Lust Story" by Christopher J. Valin "The Quarium Wars" by E. E. Giorgi "Death-Life on Kepler 452b" by Hall & Beaulieu "The Tunnel" by Andreas Christensen "Caterpillar" by Isaac Hooke "The Null" by Vincent Trigili "The Machine" by Mark R. Healy "Bottled Lightning" by Philip Harris "The Gambit" by Rysa Walker "Control" by Will Swardstrom "The Greatest Serial Killer in the Universe" by Robert Jeschonek "Magnet" by David Adams "Stasis Dream" by Josi Russell

Down and Out in Purgatory: The Collected Stories of Tim Powers


Tim Powers - 2017
    Dick Award winning author of The Anubis Gates and On Stranger Tides.POWERS OF THE IMAGINATION! Twenty-one pulse-pounding, mind-bending tales of science fiction, twisted metaphysics, and supernatural wonder from the two-time World Fantasy and Philip K. Dick Award-winning author of The Anubis Gates and On Stranger Tides. A complete palette of storytelling colors from Powers, including acclaimed tale “The Bible Repairman,” in which a psychic handyman who supernaturally eliminates troublesome passages of the Bible for paying clients finds the remains of his own broken soul on the line. Time travel takes a savage twist in “Salvage and Demolition,” where the chance discovery of a long-lost manuscript throws a down-and-out book collector back in time to 1950s San Francisco where he must prevent an ancient Sumeric inscription from dooming millions in the future. And obsession and vengeance survive on the other side of death in “Down and Out in Purgatory,” where the soul of a man lusting for revenge attempts to eternally eliminate the killer who murdered the love of his life. Wide-ranging, wonder-inducing, mind-bending—these and other tales make up the complete shorter works of a modern-day master of science fiction and fantasy.  Praise for Down and Out in Purgatory: "Powers creates tales of dark, thought-provoking drama that are just frightening enough to make you keep the lights blazing but not enough to give you nightmares. . . . This is a treat for fans and newbies alike; hand it to readers who enjoy genre-blending authors as varied as Jim Butcher, Dean Koontz and China Mieville."—Booklist “Powers is a writer whose senses and soul are attuned to a cosmic symphony most of us would not hear without his deft channeling of the music.”—Paul di Filippo, Locus About Tim Powers: "Powers writes in a clean, elegant style that illuminates without slowing down the tale. . . . [He] promises marvels and horrors, and delivers them all."—Orson Scott Card ". . .  immensely clever stuff.... Powers' prose is often vivid and arresting . . . All in all, Powers' unique voice in science fiction continues to grow stronger.”—Washington Post Book World “Powers is at heart a storyteller, and ruthlessly shapes his material into narrative form.”—The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction “On Stranger Tides . . . immediately hooks you and drags you along in sympathy with one central character's appalling misfortunes on the Spanish Main, [and] escalates from there to closing mega-thrills so determinedly spiced that your palate is left almost jaded."—David Langford "On Stranger Tides . . . was the inspiration for Monkey Island. If you read this book you can really see where Guybrush and LeChuck were -plagiarized- derived from, plus the heavy influence of voodoo in the game. . . .  [the book] had a lot of what made fantasy interesting . . .”—legendary game designer Ron Gilbert “Powers's strengths [are] his originality, his action-crammed plots, and his ventures into the mysterious, dark, and supernatural.” Los Angeles Times Book Review "[Powers’ work delivers] an intense and intimate sense of period or realization of milieu; taut plotting, with human development and destiny . . . and, looming above all, an awareness of history itself as a merciless turning of supernatural wheels. . . . Powers' descriptions . . . are breathtaking, sublimely precise . . . his status as one of fantasy's major stylists can no longer be in doubt.”—SF Site

Age of Anansi


James Lovegrove - 2012
    until the day the spider appears. What looks like an ordinary arachnid turns out to be Anansi, the trickster god of African legend, and its arrival throws Dion’s existence into chaos. Dion’s already impressive legal brain is sharpened. He becomes nimbler-witted and more ruthless, able to manipulate and deceive like never before, both in and out of court. He has been transformed into Anansi’s avatar on earth.Then he discovers the price he has to pay for his new-found skills: he must travel to America and take part in a contest between avatars of all the other trickster gods. It’s a life-or-death battle of wits, full of skulduggery and double-cross. At the end, only one will be left standing.

Mapping the Interior


Stephen Graham Jones - 2017
    Instead of the people who could be there, his mother or his brother, the figure reminds him of his long-gone father, who died mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he knew. The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you'd rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his little brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them . . . at terrible cost.

Callsign: King - The Brainstorm Trilogy


Jeremy Robinson - 2012
    The collection is 144,000 words, far longer than any of the Jack Sigler novels and jam-packed with cool science, high-octane action and strange creatures. The trilogy is $2.00 less than buying each novella seperately.Summaries:CALLSIGN: KING - Book 1The fabled Elephant Graveyard has been discovered. It contains enough ivory to make Ethiopia a wealthy nation. But the cave contains more than physical riches—it also holds the means to control the world. Fifteen scientists enter the cave. Only one leaves.Jack Sigler, Callsign: King (field leader of the covert, black ops Chess Team) receives a cryptic text from Sara Fogg, his girlfriend and CDC "disease detective". A catastrophic disease has been reported in Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley, but Fogg suspects something more is going on. Her suspicion is confirmed when King's arrival in Africa is met by a high speed assassination attempt.As King fights against two competing, high-tech mercenary forces, each struggling for control of the deadly discovery, Fogg disappears. Working with the surviving member of the science team that made the discovery, King begins a search for Fogg and the source of the potential plague that takes him back to the Great Rift Valley, back to the Elephant Graveyard, and brings him face-to-face with modern man's origins.CALLSIGN: KING - Book 2 - UNDERWORLDStrange things have always happened in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona… Bizarre lights, reports of cave entrances that appear and then vanish, hundreds of mysterious disappearances…and rumors of monstrous creatures that inhabit a labyrinthine underworld.When a terrifying accident on an Arizona highway leads to a military exclusion zone and a cover-up of staggering proportions, Jack Sigler—Callsign: King, field leader of the elite and ultra-secret covert Chess Team—joined by his closest friend, archaeologist George Pierce, sets out into the desert, intent on discovering the truth.Assisted by a beautiful paranormal investigator, dogged by soldiers intent on preserving the quarantine, and pursued by a relentless legendary hitman, King soon finds himself in a race against time to prevent all out war with the creatures that inhabit the underworld.CALLSIGN: KING - Book 3 - BLACKOUTTwice before, Jack Sigler—Callsign: King—has stopped the mysterious 'Brainstorm' from destroying all life on earth. Twice before, he's survived Brainstorm's assassins. So when the mastermind behind Brainstorm surfaces in Paris, King goes on the offensive.As the final showdown unfolds in the legendary City of Lights, the villain's scheme to plunge the world into literal darkness is revealed. But even Brainstorm isn't ready for the destructive force that has been unleashed…an entity of darkness imprisoned for more than a thousand years, set free now to devour...everything.The blackout has begun… When the sun rises, the world will end.PRAISE FOR THE JACK SIGLER THRILLERS"Rocket-boosted action, brilliant speculation, and the recreation of a horror out of the mythologic past, all seamlessly blend into a rollercoaster ride of suspense and adventure." -- James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author THE DEVIL COLONY"With THRESHOLD Jeremy Robinson goes pedal to the metal into very dark territory.

For He Can Creep


Siobhan Carroll - 2019
    Luke's Hospital for Lunatics believing God has commissioned him to write The Divine Poem. But years earlier, he made a bargain with Satan and the devil has come to collect his due--a poem that will bring about the apocalypse.Saving Smart's soul, and the rest of the world, falls to Jeoffry, the poet's demon-fighting cat and a creature of cunning Satan would be a fool to underestimate...At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Nephilim Island


Shawn Hopkins - 2011
    When last heard from, he was sailing off to Bermuda in search of an author whose books deal with the esoteric traditions of past ages.Reluctantly, John joins Henry's old Special Forces Teammates on a trip to Bermuda, hoping to discover the truth behind Henry's disappearance. But not all is as it seems in Bermuda, and the puzzle that awaits John on the small island paradise will prove to be more sinister than anything the world has seen in a very long time.As the fingers of an ancient evil seek to draw him into another world - a world where all of Hell is trying to break loose - John must confront the truth of his own past...and pray that he might survive its revelation......that the world might survive its revelation.Described as "Dan Brown meets Lost meets Left Behind," Progeny takes the reader through the heart of the Bermuda Triangle and drops them in a world where biblical legends and ancient mythologies - the similarities of which Hopkins "describes with academic dexterity" - reign terrifyingly supreme. Buckle up! Progeny is "equal parts religious thriller and action-packed roller coaster ride!""A well-researched and fast-paced thriller!" - Larry Enright, best-selling author of 12/21/12 and Four Years From Home"Will make you question what you believe!" - Doug Dorow, best-selling author of The Ninth District"This is a meaty meal of thrills!" - Ryne Douglas Pearson, best-selling author of Simple Simon and screenwriter of the box-office hit, Knowing."Cussler, Brown, Hopkins!" - Heidi Ruby Miller, Ambasadora"DaVinci Code meets Stargate...a gritty, bloody tale that will make you think, question, and cringe from one page to the next!" - Christopher Starr, The Road To Hell

We Are All Completely Fine


Daryl Gregory - 2014
    Now he’s in his mid-thirties and spends most of his time not sleeping. Stan became a minor celebrity after being partially eaten by cannibals. Barbara is haunted by the messages carved upon her bones. Greta may or may not be a mass-murdering arsonist. And for some reason, Martin never takes off his sunglasses. Unsurprisingly, no one believes their horrific tales until they are sought out by psychotherapist Dr. Jan Sayer. What happens when these likely-insane outcasts join a support group? Together they must discover which monsters they face are within and which are lurking in plain sight.